The decision to use weathered steel to construct a new KY 90 bridge over Lake Cumberland has drawn some criticism. The steel never needs to be painted; however, some say the brand new bridge already looks old and rusted.

The old two-lane bridge at the site (constructed in 1950) is in the process of being demolished.

October 26: Public meeting to discuss the replacement of the KY 2448 crossing of the North Fork of the Kentucky River. (6PM-8PM at the Hazard City Hall) [more information]

November 4: Public hearing to discuss the reconstruction of KY 52 in Garrard and Madison counties. (5PM-8PM at Paint Lick Elementary School) [more information]

November 9: Public meeting to discuss alternatives for a proposed route between the AA Highway at Tollesboro and US 68 at Fairview. (5PM-7PM in the Fleming RECC Meeting Room in Flemingsburg) [more information]

November 29, 30: Public meeting to discuss construction of the new Interstate 66 between Somerset and London. (Nov. 29 5PM-8PM at London Community Center and Nov. 30 5PM-8PM at The Center for Rural Development in Somereset) [more information]

Somerset’s Commonwealth Journal reports that work to realign KY 70 near Eubank has become visible to passing motorists. The realignment project involves the construction of an overpass over the Norfolk Southern Railroad. The new overpass will eliminate a narrow tunnel under the railroad from KY 70’s path. The project is around 25 percent complete and scheduled for completion in spring 2005: Somerset Commonwealth Journal: Realigned KY 70 route becoming clearly visible (July 8, 2004)

The Commonwealth Journal reports on the status of plans to bypass Somerset. A southeast bypass has been complete for several years, and now plans are set for southwest and northern bypasses. The northern bypass will be part of I-66.

A project to realign a section KY 70 near the Pulaski County town of Eubank is moving ahead. The contract for the project was recently awarded to a Springfield-based company. The project will construct a new overpass over the Norfolk & Southern Railroad and will replace an outdated tunnel under the tracks. The one lane tunnel is too small to accommodate fire trucks and other large vehicles.

The contract for the construction of new Monticello Street has been awarded. Work should begin this year, and construction is expected to take two construction seasons. The new route is meant to funnel traffic from southern Somerset to US 27. The new route will include a four lane bridge over the Norfolk and Southern Railroad line. The bridge will replace the current narrow underpass in the area. The underpass was constructed in 1904.

Work on the new bridge that will carry KY 90 over the eastern end of Lake Cumberland is ready to enter the next phase of construction. Work to construct a bridge pier in the middle of the lake is nearly complete. Work was delayed last spring and summer due to unusual amount of rain.

A report from a Transportation Cabinet inspector finds that a modification made to the route of the proposed southwest Somerset bypass was legitimate. Late in the planning, the route was shifted to the west where it would pass through land owned by brothers Doug and Guy Jones, both of whom were officials in the cabinet. The brothers later resigned.

The report finds that the brothers resigned due to other reasons and that the change was a valid change.

U.S. Representative Hal Rogers announced in December that a significant amount of transportation funding had been secured for Kentucky. Projects include $20 million for Kentucky's Appalachian Regional Corridor highways, $1.5 million for I-75 widening in Rockcastle County, $1 million for reconstruction of 7 miles of the Hal Rogers Parkway, and $8.5 million for I-66 in Pike County and Pulaski County.

On Thursday, the Transportation Cabinet held a public meeting to discuss plans for a southwestern bypass of Somerset. The plan has been marked by controversy after it was revealed that modifications to the planned route mean that it will pass through land owned by now former Transportation Cabinet employees.

A group representing the descendants of Daniel Boone has launched a PR campaign to express their outrage over the renaming of the Daniel Boone Parkway as the Hal Rogers Parkway. For the first time, a spokesman for Gov. Patton admitted that the governor recommended the name change to the Transportation Cabinet.

Former Gov. Louie B. Nunn has offered a renaming compromise. He has proposed renaming the Cumberland Parkway in honor of Congressman Rogers. In 2000, the state legislature renamed the Cumberland Parkway the Louie B. Nunn Cumberland Parkway in honor of the former governor without his consent. Nunn says the signs on the parkway could easily be changed to honor Hal Rogers.

On Wednesday, Guy Jones resigned from his politically appointed position in the Transportation Cabinet; Guy Jones and his brother Doug Jones, and cabinet employee, came under investigation after complaints surfaced that the route of Somerset's proposed southwestern by-pass was changed to cross property they owned.

It is also being investigated how Guy Jones managed to balance his transportation cabinet job and another job with the U.S. Postal Service.

The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet will hold a public meeting to discuss possible routes for both a southwest and a northern bypass of Somerset. The meeting will be held on Aug. 28 at the Center for Rural Development in Somerset.

State investigators are looking into how the proposed southwestern Somerset bypass came to be routed onto land owned by two Transportation Cabinet employees. One of the employees, Doug Jones of the District 8 office, resigned from the cabinet after the investigation was made public.

Doug Jones is also under investigation for accessing pornography using state computers.

A public meeting for I-66 planning in Pulaski and Laurel Counties brought out several anti-I-66 groups. The Transportation Cabinet is conducting a study to determine the route for I-66 between London and Somerset. This will replace the two-lane KY 80, the current major east-west corridor in the region.

Meanwhile, U.S. Congressman Hal Rogers has used his position on the transportation appropriations subcommittee to have money for Southern Kentucky road projects included a draft version of the Fiscal Year 2004 Transportation Appropriations Committee. The money includes $4.5 million for continuing work on designing I-66 in Pulaski and Laurel Counties, $2 million for I-66 in Pike County, $2 million to improve US 27 north of Somerset, $1.5 million for widening I-75 in Rockcastle County, and $1 million to fund the reconstruction of the Hal Rogers Parkway between mileposts 33 and 47 in Leslie County.

Midnight June 1, 2003 marked the end of tolls on the Louie B. Nunn Cumberland Parkway and the Daniel Boone Parkway. Transportation officials and U.S. Congressman Hal Rogers commemorated the occasion on June 9 at the London toll both on the Daniel Boone Parkway. At the ceremony, Congressman Rogers personally manned a bulldozer and knocked over one of the toll booths. It was also revealed at this ceremony that the Daniel Boone Parkway would be renamed the Hal Rogers Parkway.

Read more for more information about Hal Rogers, the removal of tolls, pictures of the parkways, the renaming of the Daniel Boone Parkway, and the controversy it sparked.

U.S. Congressman Harold "Hal" Rogers has secured $13 million in federal spending to eliminate tolls from the Louie B. Nunn Cumberland Parkway and the Daniel Boone Parkway. The state currently owes $26 million in bonds on the parkway system. This federal funding will eliminate half of the outstanding debt and allow the state to refinance the rest at a lower interest rate.

The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet has distributed between 6,000 and 7,000 surveys seeking citizen input on the future route of I-66 between Somerset and London. Similar surveys were used to help determing the route of the Somerset Northern By-Pass, another segment of future I-66.

The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet will be holding a public meeting on Aug. 22, 2002 to discuss Somerset Northern Bypass which is part of Kentucky's I-66. The meeting will be held at the Center for Rural Development in Somerset and will consist of an open house from 4pm to 7pm and a formal comment period from 7pm to 8pm.

After examining press releases from Congressman Fletcher (no longer online) and Congressman Rogers, I have learned more specific details about what projects Kentucky's money in the 2002 U.S. Department of Transportation spending bill has been allocated for:

$20 million for land acquisition and planning efforts for Interstate 66, with an additional $2.5 million provided for ongoing design efforts of I-66 in Pike County.

$2 million for a new initiative at the University of Kentucky. The Academy for Community Transportation Innovation will educate professionals and study transportation development, planning and design of suburban and rural areas.

$2 million to help Kentucky establish a statewide clearinghouse for public travel information.

$2 million for a project to provide traffic information through a universal telephone number (5-1-1). The pilot project will build a first generation 511 call center in Kentucky that could become a national resource for traffic information.

$15.5 million for bus and bus facility needs across Kentucky.

$1.5 million for preliminary work on a project to straighten a dangerous section of the Daniel Boone Parkway in Leslie County between mileposts 37 and 44

$4 million for improved access to the Parkway from the new Clay/Leslie County Industrial Park

$2 million for continued work on a project to improve US 25N in Rockcastle County to provide for increased traffic at the new Country Music Hall of Fame

$1.4 million to improve Cold Hill Road, located in the Daniel Boone National Forest in Laurel County

$995,000 to improve a stretch of Craigs Creek Road on U.S. Forest Service land in Laurel County

$885,000 for improvements to Kentucky’s Scenic Byways, including the Country Music Highway, the Wilderness Road Heritage Highway and the Cumberland Cultural Heritage Highway.

$800,000 for the design phase of a 4-lane project on a section of US 27 south of Somerset to Burnside Island.

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